Tagged: Greg Dobbs

Today the Phillies chose their 53rd manager by promoting Pete Mackanin from Interim Manager to the permanent role…at least for the next year. Pete played for the Phillies in the late 1970’s and is now the 8th person to have managed, coached and played for the team. Larry Bowa, who is the current bench coach, is also a member of that club.

This move is not a surprise. The team really began to come to life after Mackanin took over when Ryne Sandberg ran off. While youth, trades and injuries have made it impossible for them to win much, the Phillies have at least looked like a team that is trying since Mackanin was put in charge. He has also kept the youngsters in line, like when he benched Odubel Herrera this past Sunday for throwing a tantrum after an at-bat. Herrera seems to have taken the lesson to heart and apologized to Mackanin earlier today. This is a good sign that Mackanin can bridge the gap with this team from awful to, hopefully, competing again in a few years.

So, totally off topic, I recently went to Los Angeles to a Dodgers game to see Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins play in blue uniforms. I took a tour of the stadium before hand, which was very interesting. The stadium itself is huge and not easy to find your way around, but Emma from Dodger Blue World was nice enough to give me a quick tour of the upper deck, which was very cool. The view from above is amazing! Thank you, Emma!

The game itself was a very strange one. The guy sitting next to me said he had been going to Dodgers games for 30 years and that day was the first time it had rained while he was there. Yes, I went all the way to L.A. to get rained on. So by the 4th inning, the camera was put away for good as I did not bring my usual Philly rain gear. But I did manage to get some pictures before the 16 INNING ordeal ended. Yes, 16 innings….and the Dodgers lost. But I had photos to Chase and J-Roll to cheer me up! I also saw Davy Lopes and….believe it or not…GREG DOBBS! I have no idea why he was there watching the game, but I got a shot of him too. It was an ex-Phillies reunion.

If anyone is interested, here is the full Photo Album from the pre-game tour and the start of the game. I also visited Petco Park in San Diego, but am still working on those photos; I will post those in the next week or so. In the meantime, it looks like the Phillies might actually win a game tonight….shhhh! I should not say that too loudly. Cross your fingers that the Marlins stay quiet.

All 3 games between the Phillies and the Marlins this weekend went into the 9th inning tied by a score of 1-1. It is safe to say that both teams had a wee bit of trouble finding runs.

The Phillies had base runners in the series, but only hit 6 for 30 with runners in scoring position. Both Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley could not come through with the bases loaded; Rollins was 0 for 8 total. And today, the Phils hit into 3 double plays to kill rallies.

Despite the seriously offensive offense, the Phillies managed to squeak out two wins. A lot of that had much to do with the fact that they were playing the Marlins, who look a lot like Phillies-Lite: Placido Polanco, Juan Pierre, Greg Dobbs and Chad Qualls are all ex-Phils.

In another unusual turn of events, Laynce Nix wound up being the hero of the day in the finale. Nix smashed a 2nd deck homer to right field to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th inning. It was Nix’s second home run pinch hit in the last 4 games. He also made a diving grab in right field in Saturday’s game; diving is not his forte, so this was truly a sight to behold. Ok Laynce, you win…I like you. You can stay. ;o)

But the real story of the day was Roy Halladay who picked up his 200th career win today. Not only was that an amazing feat, but this win had to be a huge relief in another way as well. After struggling mightily basically since last year, Halladay finally had a Halladay-like game. In 8 innings, the Doc allowed only 1 run with 5 hits and a walk. Granted it was against the Fish, but this will be a huge boost for his confidence.

So congratulations to Roy Halladay on his 200th career win!

The Phillies will celebrate tonight and then it is back to work tomorrow in Cincinnati. Game time is 7:05pm.

The Phillies dropped two out of three games against the Marlins this weekend, with the ugliest of the 3 games coming in a 5-1 loss today. Joe Blanton pitched 6 innings, giving up 5 runs, including two home runs, one of which came off the bat of the opposing pitcher. Blanton has now allowed 24 runs in his last 4 games.

For the Marlins, Carlos Zambrano had a good day, including a bunt base-hit and a home run. The Phillies offense did a great job helping him out with only 6 hits in the game and 8 runners left on base. 3 of those 6 hits belonged to Juan Pierre. Zambrano has certainly improved since leaving the Cubs, but the Phillies made him look like All-Star material.

Offensively, this game was so boring, a 20-something year old guy sitting next to me fell asleep in the 4th inning. I am not kidding. His friends were laughing about it and poking him but even that did not wake him. He finally woke when it started to rain.

So since I have nothing much nice to say today after a very disappointing loss, I have decided instead to hand out some awards. The winner of the “I Plastered Myself Against The Outfield Wall, But It Was A Home Run Anyway” award goes to Juan Pierre:

And Placido Polanco wins the award for the “Silliest Face Of The Day” on a play at third:

The “Oops, I Did It Again” award was a tie between Blanton (for 5 runs or more in his last 4 games) and Hector Luna:

The “At Least The Bullpen Didn’t Totally Suck Award” goes to the bullpen:

The “I Came All This Way And Did Not Even Get To See My Son Play” award goes to former Major Leaguer, John Mayberry Sr. and Mrs. Mayberry:

And finally, the “Nothing Wrong With A Little Man-Love” award goes to Jimmy Rollins and Greg Dobbs:

The Phillies begin a 4-game series with the Dodgers tomorrow and hopefully, Vance Worley will be off the DL and pitching.

By the way, my condolences to Jose Contreras who is done for the year with a complete tear of the flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow…again. At 40 years of age, it looks like this may be the end of his career :O( That had to be devastating news for him, poor guy. I wish him the best of luck.

And in other news, Chase Utley is finally headed to Clearwater to push forward with his recovery. No clue when he will be back, but do not hold your breath.

Instead, enjoy my Photo Albumfrom the game today. Unlike the game, the album does not suck. ;o)

Phillies pitchers Kyle Kendrick and Roy Halladay each started one game of a double header against the Marlins today. So while the stats show that Game 2 should have been a win and game one was a toss-up, that is not exactly what happened.

The Marlins got off to a good start in Game 1 with a run against Kendrick, same as they did on Tuesday night. But also the same as Tuesday night’s 9-1 win, the Phillies came charging back quick, scoring two runs in the first two innings.

Wilson Valdez wound up being the game hero, going 3-for-4 with a bases loaded triple in the third. Jimmy Rollins had two hits, including a 3-run homer.

But the real surprise was Kendrick, who pitched seven innings without allowing another run after the first inning. The Phillies went on to win Game 1 by a score of 8-1.

But in Game 2, the earth must have stopped spinning on its axis’ because as Kendrick did his best Halladay impersonation, Halladay suddenly turned in a Kendrick-like performance. This is an alternate reality for Phillies fans who watched confused as Halladay got hit around by the Fish.

Someone should write a guide book for these situations as I was at a loss of how to cope with it. Oh wait, someone did write a manual…

So after allowing two runs in the first inning, it looked like Halladay might reel in the Fish after that. But in the fourth inning, the Fish stopped taking the bait. Former Phillies, Greg Dobbs smacked a double to get things started and two more hits later, the Phillies were down by a score of 4-1.

Kendrick outpitched Halladay today? What craziness is this? And four runs for Halladay is like a freak accident; it simply should never happen. This was only the third time all year that Halladay gave up more than three runs in a game.

For the Marlins, pitcher Anibal Sanchez was on point. He allowed only two runs over seven innings, forcing the Phillies to try for a comeback in the ninth inning.

With two outs in the ninth and two men on base, Shane Victorino came through with a two-run single to ties up the game at 4-4. He then stole second and landed on third after a bad throw. But Chase Utley was not able to score Victorino as he flew out to left and sent the game into extra innings.

But in the 10th, Ryan Howard got hit by a pitch and Domonic Brown walked. Carlos Ruiz then reversed the Phillies fortunes and smacked a walk-off single that scored Howard for a 5-4 win!

The Phillies have taken 3 straight from the Fish! The earth has returned to its normal rotation and the universe is as it should be. Game 4 is tomorrow at 1:05pm.

The Phillies bullpen returned from their 2-day vacation tonight.Due to some amazing starting pitching, the pen had not been used since Tuesday.Many are wishing that the vacation had never ended.

Roy Oswalt was lights-out for four innings and finally gave up a hit in the fifth, a solo homer.He then allowed one more run after back-to-back doubles by the Marlins in the sixth.

After a bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning, Oswalt grabbed his left side as he crossed first base.Uh-oh.While he walked to the mound to start the seventh, Charlie Manuel and the Phillies trainer quickly ran out after him and removed him before he threw a pitch.The diagnosis was a lower back strain.

Oswalt has a history of back issues, while was one of the main concerns when he was traded to the Phils last year.How serious this particular issue is has yet to be determined.

With the injury to Oswalt, the bullpen’s vacation was officially over.JC Romero came in for one batter and on a hopping ground ball, he could not resist the urge to attempt to field it as it bounced over his head.The ball glanced off his glove and spun away from Pete Orr at second base giving Logan Morrison an infield single.

Bad luck for Romero turned into a disaster for Danys Baez.He quickly issued a walk and a single to load the bases.Then instead of bringing in lefty Antonio Bastardo to face ex-Phillie Greg Dobbs, Manuel left Baez in.Big mistake.Dobbs greeted the undeserved boos from the crowd with a 2-run single.The boos came before the hit.

Dobbs was an amazing pinch hitter for the Phils in 2008 when he helped them win the World Championship.He had a bad year last year, but that was certainly not deserving of such a reception.In addition, Dobbs is one of the nicest players I have ever met.Genuinely nice, not just putting on a show.He always had time to chat, time for autographs and did some great charity work with disabled children in the Philly area.Those who booed him should be ashamed.

But I digress…those two runs Dobbs knocked in gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead.But what it also did was give Phillies fan one more reason to dislike Baez.He looked better than last year early in the year and in the spring, but clearly, he cannot be trusted in a close game.

While the rest of bullpen held, the offense could not come though.Orr swung at the first pitch in the ninth inning and flew out.John Mayberry Jr. drew a walk, but both Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco flew out as well.

This was a depressing game to lose, but the Phillies have made a habit early this year of losing the first game of a series and then winning the next two.Let’s hope that trend continues.

In the meantime, here is a little comic relief.It is a make-believe conversation between Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth.Warning: If cuss words offend you or small children are around, do not play the video.Otherwise, enjoy ;o)

I normally do not have this video done before Christmas, but it is amazing how much extra time that the lack of a World Series provides ;o)For those who have missed it previous years, at the end of every season, I pick out my favorite Phillies photos from that year and put them into a video slideshow.These photos were all taken by me and my giant zoom lens, from the stands, at both home and away games throughout the season.

In the 2010 season, I attended 27 games and 7 Phillies-related special events, like the Phestival and the Phillies Cruise.Yes, it was down year for me due to a lack of funds ;o)Going through the digital files on my computer, I calculate that I shot more than 18,000 photos at Phillies games this year.If you add in the special events, the total is over 25,000.Of those, I picked out and published around 5,000.The slideshow contains the best of the game shots for a total of 257 photos.

I am eternally grateful for the invention of the digital camera.Remember the days when we had to use film?That was one expensive habit. Well, here it is…enjoy!

The Phillies announced today who will be on the 25-man roster for the NLDS and there are really no surprises.Those notable players who did not make it include Kyle Kendrick, Danys Baez and David Herndon.Here is the breakdown:

Pitchers

Roy Halladay

Roy Oswalt

Cole Hamels

Joe Blanton

Brad Lidge

Ryan Madson

Jose Contreras

J.C. Romero

Chad Durbin

Antonio Bastardo

Catchers

Carlos Ruiz

Brian Schneider

InfieldersOutfielders

Ryan Howard

Jayson Werth

Chase Utley

Shane Victorino

Jimmy Rollins

Raul Ibanez

Placido Polanco

Ben Francisco

Wilson Valdez

Ross Gload

Mike Sweeney

Domonic Brown

Greg Dobbs

Going with 10 pitchers instead of 11 allows the Phillies to add more fire power to the bench.They expect the 3 starters to go deep into games so extra long men in the pen will likely not be necessary.Blanton will fill the role if needed.

As for Ruiz and Romero, manager Charlie Manuel says both players are fine and ready to play after suffering minor injuries on Sunday.

If you are going to the game tomorrow, here is the information about pre-game festivities and other highlights:

2:00 p.m. – Phillies Postseason Party begins on Citizens Bank Way. Features music by Mr. Greengenes; Highlights include an inflatable obstacle course for children, face painters, an extreme rock wall climb and a Velcro race.